Activists Hail Protest Wave as ‘Balkan Spring’

As large protests rocked the capitals of several countries in the Balkans this weekend, some social network users are hailing them as signs of a ‘Balkan spring’.

Protesters with torches in front of the Serbian parliament. Photo: BIRN.

After mass anti-government protests shook Albania, Montenegro and Serbia this weekend, some social network users have dubbed the emerging unrest a “Balkan spring”.

“Balkan spring in sight,” one Twitter user posted, while another said: “#BalkanSpring 20 years of waiting to join the EU and have a better life is a long time. People are growing impatient. Those that didn’t leave increasingly see local political leadership as an obstacle #1od5Miliona in #Serbia #Montenegro #Albania”.

In Albania, thousands of opposition supporters on Saturday clashed with police in a rally against Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist-led government, demanding its resignation and early elections.

A few hours later, several thousand people protested in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, demanding the resignations of President Milo Djukanovic and the chief prosecutor for organized crime.

At the same time, tens of thousands of protesters marched for eleventh time through the Serbian capital, Belgrade, calling on President Aleksandar Vucic and the government led by his Serbian Progressive Party to resign.